Yes, Leonard Cohen wrote this back in 1992, and performed it in 2008 — but it’s the song we need today as we close out 2020.
Month: December 2020
Amazon’s user reviews: Can you trust them? Will ReviewMeta help?
I am awed by the author’s skills in writing this gripping first novel that takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of all the top museums in Europe. How seriously do you take a review that starts like that? Do… Read More ›
The Murder List
Barbara says I’m supposed to have heard of Hank Phillippi Ryan. Apparently she’s well-known as both a mystery writer and an investigative reporter on Boston television. Although I hadn’t heard of her before, I went ahead and read (actually “listened to”… Read More ›
Why are you still here?
A positive — dare I say uplifting? — story about Zoom learning as we close out annus horribilis 2020! From Patrick Honner: It was the last day of school in 2020 and my students were in breakout rooms finishing up a… Read More ›
Does every language have an alphabet? What about abjads and abugidas — not to mention syllabaries?
Is there such a thing as the Hebrew alphabet? How about the Japanese alphabet? Or the Hindi? “Of course,” you reply. “At least I know there’s a Hebrew alphabet. It has letters like מ, which means ‘m,’ and it’s written… Read More ›
“Jewish Kid Born on Christmas Day Talking Blues”
Continuing with this year’s Christmas theme, we have “Jewish Kid Born on Christmas Day Talking Blues“ by Sally Fingerett, best known as one of the Four Bitchin’ Babes:
Necessity by Jo Walton: Plato, Socrates, religion, aliens, and spaceships!
It’s always sad to get to the last page of the last volume of a much-loved trilogy. Jo Walton’s Thessaly trilogy consists of three novels (what a surprise), the first two of which I reviewed previously in these pages. Here… Read More ›
Dr. Fauci recalls taking ancient Greek, Latin, and philosophy…
My cousin Mike Laskey interviewed Dr. Fauci on a podcast! Among other important things, we learn that Dr. Fauci was most heavily influenced by his college courses in Greek, Latin, and philosophy. As you can surmise from his public persona,… Read More ›
The true history of the birth of Jesus (plus some related remarks about 10th grade and the irreverent reverend)
Raise your hand if you have personal knowledge of the true story of the Nativity. OK, most of us were not there at the time, Connie Willis to the contrary notwithstanding, so we have to rely on the words of… Read More ›
“Christmas with your Jewish Boyfriend”
This goes out to a surprising number of couples I know. (I could have sent it to Barbara before we got married, but not now, as husband ≠ boyfriend.) I heard it on the Unorthodox podcast a little over a… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 